WO2021153682A1

WO2021153682A1 - Recording device and recording control method

Info

Publication number: WO2021153682A1
Application number: PCT/JP2021/003071
Authority: WO
Inventors: 山田　顕季; 由美柳内; 後藤　文孝; 石川　智一
Original assignee: キヤノン株式会社
Priority date: 2020-01-30
Filing date: 2021-01-28
Publication date: 2021-08-05
Also published as: US20220355603A1

Abstract

The purpose of the present invention is to perform recording of a specified color with high color development and perform recording at high speed. For this purpose, a recording device that corresponds to a plurality of colors with a recording head provided with a plurality of heater elements and heats a sheet-shaped recording medium in which a plurality of color development layers that develop a color according to heating are superposed on one another to develop a color of a desired color development layer and form an image on the recording medium is provided with the following configuration. That is, when driving each of the plurality of heater elements of the recording head and developing a specified color using a first pulse that is used to preheat a prescribed color development layer and a second pulse that is applied after the first pulse and used to develop a color of the prescribed color development layer, the recording device performs the following configuration. That is, the recording device performs control so as not to develop colors of other color development layers that do not use at least any of expanding a pulse width of the first pulse and increasing the number of application times of the second pulse for reproduction of a specified color.

Description

Recording device and recording control method

The present invention relates to a recording device and a recording control method, and more particularly to a recording device that heats a recording medium in which color-developing layers of different colors are layered by a heat generating element to record an image, and a recording control method.

Until now, in recording with a thermal print head, monochrome printing using thermal paper, color printing using an ink ribbon, and the like have been widely used. On the other hand, in recent years, color recording using paper provided with color-developing layers of a plurality of colors has been proposed, and it has become widespread as a simple printing means for photographs and the like. The heating temperature and heating time required for color development are different from each of the color-developing layers of the plurality of colors, and a color image is recorded by developing a specific color-developing layer by utilizing the difference (Patent Documents 1 and 2). See).

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-506582 Japanese Patent No. 4677431

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, since the pulse width of the head drive pulse used to develop each color-developing layer is fixed, it is necessary to apply a plurality of pulses in order to develop a specific color having a high color-developing temperature. There was a problem that it took time to heat.

The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional example, and an object of the present invention is to provide a recording device capable of realizing high color development recording while shortening the heating time required for color development of a specific color, and a recording control method.

In order to achieve the above object, the recording device of the present invention has the following configuration.

That is, the recording is performed by heating a sheet-shaped recording medium in which a plurality of color-developing layers corresponding to a plurality of colors and developing colors in response to heating are layered to develop a desired color-developing layer among the plurality of color-developing layers. A recording device that forms an image on a medium, the recording head including a plurality of heat generating elements, a first pulse for preheating a predetermined color-developing layer, and a first pulse applied after the first pulse. When a driving means for driving each of the plurality of heat generating elements of the recording head and a specific color are developed by using the second pulse for developing the color of the predetermined color-developing layer, the first pulse is used. Increasing the pulse width of one pulse and increasing the number of times the second pulse is applied so as not to develop a color in another coloring layer in which at least one of them is not used for reproducing the specific color. It is characterized by having a pulse control means for controlling the operation.

Looking at the present invention from another aspect, a recording head provided with a plurality of heat generating elements heats a sheet-shaped recording medium in which a plurality of color-developing layers corresponding to a plurality of colors and developing colors in response to heating are laminated. A first method for preheating a predetermined color-developing layer, which is a recording control method of a recording device for forming an image on the recording medium by developing a desired color-developing layer among the plurality of color-developing layers. Using the pulse and the second pulse applied after the first pulse to develop the color of the predetermined color-developing layer, each of the plurality of heat generating elements of the recording head is driven and specified. At least one of increasing the pulse width of the first pulse and increasing the number of times the second pulse is applied is used to reproduce the specific color. It is provided with a recording control method characterized by having a control step for controlling so as not to cause color development of another color-developing layer that is not used.

Further, when the present invention is viewed from another aspect, a sheet-shaped recording medium having a plurality of color-developing layers corresponding to a plurality of colors and having a plurality of color-developing layers layered on top of each other is heated to be desired among the plurality of color-developing layers. A recording device for forming an image on the recording medium by developing a color-developing layer of the above, a recording head including a plurality of heat generating elements, a first pulse for preheating a predetermined color-developing layer, and the above. A driving means for driving each of the plurality of heat generating elements of the recording head by using a second pulse applied after the first pulse and for developing the color of the predetermined color-developing layer, and the recording medium. In the transport means for transporting the data to the recording head in the first direction and in the first pixel located in the image non-forming region of the recording medium, the drive means uses the first pulse and the recording medium. In the second pixel, which is located in the image forming region of the above and is recorded after the first pixel, the control means for controlling the driving means to use the second pulse, and the control means are images. Based on the data, there are cases where the color-developing layer that develops color at the position of the second pixel is the first color-developing layer and cases where the color-developing layer is a second color-developing layer different from the first color-developing layer. The recording device comprises at least one of changing the duty ratio of the first pulse used at the position of the first pixel and changing the application time of the first pulse. ..

Further, when the present invention is viewed from another aspect, a sheet-like recording medium in which a plurality of color-developing layers corresponding to a plurality of colors and developing colors in response to heating are layered by a recording head provided with a plurality of heat generating elements can be obtained. A recording control method for a recording device that heats and develops a desired color-developing layer among the plurality of color-developing layers to form an image on the recording medium, and is a first method for preheating a predetermined color-developing layer. When driving each of the plurality of heat generating elements of the recording head by using the pulse of the above and the second pulse applied after the first pulse to develop the color of the predetermined color-developing layer. The first pixel located in the image non-forming region of the recording medium uses the first pulse, is located in the image forming region of the recording medium, and is recorded after the first pixel. The pixel is controlled to use the second pulse, and based on the input image data, the color-developing layer that develops color at the position of the second pixel is the first color-developing layer, and the first color-developing layer. The duty ratio of the first pulse used at the position of the first pixel is changed, or the application time of the first pulse is changed depending on whether the second color layer is different from the first color layer. It is provided with a recording control method characterized in that it is changed or at least one of them is performed.

According to the present invention, there is an effect that high color development recording can be realized while shortening the heating time required for color development of a specific color. In addition, it is possible to improve the color development at the end where image formation starts.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will be clarified by the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The accompanying drawings are included in the specification and are used to form a part thereof, show embodiments of the present invention, and explain the principles of the present invention together with the description thereof.
It is a side sectional view which shows the schematic structure of the recording apparatus which is a typical embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the control composition of the recording device shown in FIG. 1 and the host device connected to this. It is a side sectional view which shows the detailed structure of the recording head mounted on the recording apparatus shown in FIG. It is a side sectional view which shows the detailed structure of the ink ribbon heated by the recording head shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the recording principle by the recording head shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the conventional recording process as a comparative example. It is a figure explaining the control of the conventional example of the recording head as a comparative example. It is a flowchart which shows the processing of the recording apparatus and the host PC when the print service according to Example 1 is executed in the recording system. It is a figure which shows the example of the heating pulse applied to the recording head of the recording apparatus according to the process of Example 1. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the image processing which generates the heating pulse according to Example 1 and drives a recording head. It is a figure which shows the example of the heating pulse applied to the recording head of the recording apparatus according to the modification 1 of Example 1. It is a figure which shows the example of the heating pulse applied to the recording head of the recording apparatus according to the modification 2 of Example 1. It is a figure which shows the example of the heating pulse applied to the recording head of the recording apparatus according to the modification 3 of Example 1. It is a flowchart which shows the processing of a recording apparatus and a host PC when the high-speed print service according to Example 2 is executed in a recording system. It is a figure which shows the example of the heating pulse applied to the recording head of the recording apparatus which follows the process of Example 2. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the heating pulse applied to the recording head of the recording apparatus according to the modification 1 of Example 2. It is a figure which shows the example of the heating pulse applied to the recording head of the recording apparatus according to the modification 2 of Example 2. It is a figure which shows the example of the heating pulse applied to the recording head of the recording apparatus according to the modification 3 of Example 2. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the image I formed on the infrared image member 10 and the transport direction D of an infrared image member 10. It is a figure which shows the example of the heating pulse applied to the recording head of the recording apparatus according to Example 3. FIG. It is a figure explaining the application timing of the preheating pulse of the immediately preceding pixel area IW which is different from FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the image processing which generates the heating pulse according to Example 3 and drives a recording head. It is a flowchart which shows the image processing which generates the heating pulse according to Example 3 and drives a recording head. It is a figure explaining the application timing of the preheating pulse of the immediately preceding pixel area IW which is different from FIG. It is a figure which shows the example which uses the heating pulse based on the heating pulse shown in FIG. 9 with respect to the application timing p0 to p8 of the image start end IA. It is a figure which shows the example which uses the heating pulse based on the heating pulse shown in FIG. 15 with respect to the application timing p0 to p8 of the image start end IA. It is a figure explaining the correction table which stored the pixel value of the immediately preceding pixel area IW after correction according to the pixel value of the image start end IA when the immediately preceding pixel area IW is a white pixel. It is a flowchart which shows the image processing which generates the heating pulse according to Example 4 and drives a recording head. It is a figure which shows the preheating instruction according to the combination of the specific color of the immediately preceding pixel area IW and the image start end IA, and the number of the table group to be used. It is a figure explaining the heating pulse with respect to the combination of the specific color of the pixel of an n line and the pixel of a (n + 1) line. It is a figure which shows the example of the preheating pulse and the subsequent heating pulse when the heat history is high temperature. It is a figure which shows the example which performs the preheating for image start IA only by the preheating pulse of the immediately preceding pixel area IW.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims. Although a plurality of features are described in the embodiment, not all of the plurality of features are essential to the invention, and the plurality of features may be arbitrarily combined. Further, in the attached drawings, the same or similar configurations are designated by the same reference numbers, and duplicate explanations are omitted.

<Outline of recording device (Figs. 1 to 3)>
FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a recording device according to a typical embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the recording device 40 includes a recording head 30, a storage unit 41, a transport roller 42, a platen 43, and a discharge port 44. A plurality of sheet-shaped recording media 10 can be stored in the storage unit 41, and the recording medium 10 can be replenished by opening and closing the cover (not shown). At the time of printing, the recording medium 10 is conveyed to the lower part of the recording head 30 by the conveying roller 42, an image is formed between the platen 43 and the recording head 30, and then the image is ejected from the ejection port 44 to complete printing.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of a recording system composed of the recording device shown in FIG. 1 and a host device connected to the recording device. As shown in FIG. 2, this recording system is composed of the recording device 40 shown in FIG. 1 and a personal computer (host PC) 50 as the host device thereof.

The host PC 50 includes a CPU 501, a RAM 502, an HDD 503, a data transfer interface (I / F) 504, a keyboard / mouse interface (I / F) 505, and a display interface (I / F) 506.

The CPU 501 executes processing according to a program held in the HDD 503 or the RAM 502. The RAM 502 is a volatile storage and temporarily holds programs and data. Further, the HDD 503 is a non-volatile storage, and also holds programs and data. The data transfer I / F 504 controls the transmission and reception of data to and from the recording device 40. As this data transmission / reception transfer method, a wired connection such as USB, IEEE1394, or LAN, or a wireless connection such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) or WiFi can be used. The keyboard / mouse (registered trademark) I / F 505 is an interface for controlling a UI (user interface) such as a keyboard and a mouse, through which a user can input information to a host PC. The display I / F 506 controls the display on the display (not shown).

On the other hand, the recording device 40 includes a CPU 401, a RAM 402, a ROM 403, a data transfer interface (I / F) 404, a head controller 405, and an image processing accelerator 406.

The CPU 401 executes the processing of each embodiment described later according to the program held in the ROM 403 or the RAM 402. The RAM 402 is a volatile storage and temporarily holds programs and data. Further, the ROM 403 is a non-volatile storage, and holds table data and programs used in the processing of each embodiment described later. Further, the data transfer I / F 404 controls data transmission / reception with / from the PC 50.

The head controller 405 controls the heating operation (described later) of the recording head 30 based on the recorded data. Specifically, the head controller 405 is configured to read control parameters and recorded data from a predetermined address of the RAM 402. That is, when the CPU 401 writes the control parameters and the recording data to a predetermined address of the RAM 402, the head controller 405 activates the process to heat the recording head.

The image processing accelerator 406 is composed of hardware and executes image processing at a higher speed than the CPU 401. Specifically, the image processing accelerator 406 is configured to read parameters and data required for image processing from a predetermined address of the RAM 402. Then, when the CPU 401 writes the above parameters and data to the predetermined address of the RAM 402, the image processing accelerator 406 is activated and the predetermined image processing is performed.

Note that the image processing accelerator 406 is not necessarily a necessary component, and the above table parameter creation processing and image processing may be executed only by processing by the CPU 401, depending on the specifications of the recording device and the like.

<Outline of recording head configuration (Fig. 3)>
FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing the configuration of the recording head and the state of the contact region between the recording head and the recording medium.

The recording head 30 includes a glaze 32 on the substrate 31. The glaze 32 may further include a "convex glaze" 33. The resistor 34 is placed on the surface of the convex glaze 33 if it is present, or on the surface of the flat glaze 32 if it is not present. It is preferable that the protective film layer is formed on the resistance 34, the glaze 32, and the convex glaze 33. A combination of glaze 32 and convex glaze 33, which are generally made of the same material, is hereinafter referred to as "recording head glaze".

The substrate 31 is in contact with the heat sink 35 and is cooled by using a fan or the like. The recording medium 10 generally comes into contact with the glaze of the recording head having a length substantially greater than the length of the actual heating resistance. The resistor 34 is an electric heat conversion element (heater or heat generating element) that generates heat by supplying an electric current to the resistor 34. A typical resistance has a length of about 120 μm in the transport direction of the recording medium 10, but the thermal contact region of the recording medium with the glaze of a general recording head is 200 μm or more.

<Outline of recording principle (Figs. 4 to 5)>
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of a sheet-shaped recording medium for use in image formation using infrared rays as a heat source. As described in detail below, the recording medium 10 is overlaid with color-developing layers of a plurality of colors that are heated by heat rays (infrared rays) radiated from the resistor by supplying an electric current to the resistor 34, and these color-developing layers are colored. By doing so, a full-color image is formed, so it is also called an infrared image member. Therefore, in this sense, the recording medium 10 is referred to as an infrared image member in the following description.

As shown in FIG. 4, in the infrared image member 10,

image forming layers

14, 16, 18, spacer layers 15, 17, and protective film layer 13 are formed on a base material 12 that reflects light. .. The

image forming layers

14, 16 and 18, respectively, are generally yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C) at the time of full-color printing, but may be a combination of other colors.

Each cambium is initially colorless, but each layer changes to colored when heated to a specific temperature called the activation temperature. The order of the colors of the image forming layer can be arbitrarily selected. One preferred color order is as described above. Another preferred order is cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y), respectively, for the three

cambium layers

14, 16 and 18, respectively. Here, an example in which the above-mentioned yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C) are configured in this order will be described.

The spacer layer 15 is preferably thinner than the spacer layer 17, but this is not the case when the materials including both layers have substantially the same thermal diffusivity. The function of the spacer layer is to control heat diffusion in the infrared image member 10. Preferably, the spacer layer 17 is at least four times thicker when it is composed of the same members as the spacer layer 15. All layers placed on the substrate 12 are substantially transparent prior to image formation. When the base material 12 has a reflective color (for example, white), the color image formed on the infrared image member 10 is visually recognized through the protective film layer 13 with respect to the reflective background provided by the base material 12. Since the layers arranged on the base material 12 are transparent, the color combinations formed on each image forming layer can be seen.

The three

image forming layers

14, 16 and 18 of the infrared image member 10 are arranged on the same side of the base material 12, but some image forming layers are arranged on the opposite side of the base material 12. You may have.

The

cambium

14, 16 and 18 are processed at least partially independently by two adjustable parameters, namely changes in temperature and time. These parameters are adjustable and an image is formed on the desired cambium by selecting the temperature and time period of the recording head while the infrared image member is heated.

Here, each of the

image forming layers

14, 16 and 18 is processed by being heated while the recording head 30 is in contact with the uppermost layer of the member, that is, the protective film layer 13 of the infrared image member 10. The activation temperature (Ta3) of the image forming layer 14 (the third layer counting from the base material 12 and the image forming layer closest to the surface of the infrared image member 10) is the activation temperature (Ta2) of the image forming layer 16. ), And similarly, the activation temperature (Ta1) 18 of the cambium 18.

Heating of the cambium at a distance farther from the recording head 30 is delayed by the time required for heating to diffuse the heat to those layers through the spacer layer. Due to such a heating delay, the cambium that is closer to the recording head, even though it is substantially higher than the activation temperature, is the image-forming layer that has a lower activation temperature (the layer farther from the recording head). It does not activate the lower cambium. Then, it becomes possible to heat above those activation temperatures. Therefore, when processing the uppermost image forming layer 14, the recording head 30 is heated to a relatively high temperature for a short time, and the heating is insufficient for both the

image forming layers

16 and 18. These layers are not activated.

In order to activate only the image-forming layer close to the base material 12 (in this case, the image-forming layer 16 or 18), the cambium is heated at a temperature lower than the activation temperature of the image-forming layer farther from the base material 12 for a sufficiently long period of time. .. In this way, when the lower cambium is activated, the higher cambium is not activated.

The heating of the infrared image member 10 is preferably performed by using the recording head 30, but some method of applying controlled heat to the infrared image member may be used. Some known means may be used, such as using a modulated light source (eg, a laser light source).

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the heating temperature and time of the recording head required to process the three image forming layers shown in FIG.

In FIG. 5, the vertical axis represents the heating temperature on the surface of the infrared image member 10 in contact with the recording head 30, and the horizontal axis represents the heating time. Region 21 (recording head at relatively high temperature and relatively short heating time) provides imaging of the image forming layer 14, and region 22 (recording head at intermediate temperature and intermediate heating time) is the image. An imaging of the forming layer 16 is provided. Also, region 23 (where the recording head is at a relatively low temperature and has a relatively long heating time) provides imaging of the cambium 18. The time required to image the image-forming layer 18 is substantially longer than the time required to image the image-forming layer 14.

The activation temperature selected for the cambium is generally in the range of about 90 ° C to about 300 ° C. The activation temperature (Ta1) of the cambium 18 is preferably as consistently low as possible to the thermal stability of the infrared imaging member during shipping and storage, preferably about 100 ° C. or higher. The activation temperature (Ta3) of the image-forming layer 14 is consistently lower than the activation of the image-forming

layers

16 and 18 by heating through this layer without being activated by the heating method of this example. Is preferable, and preferably about 200 ° C. or higher. The activation temperature (Ta2) of the image-forming layer 16 is Ta1 <Ta2 <Ta3, preferably between about 140 ° C and about 180 ° C.

The recording head 30 used here includes a sequence of resistors linearly arranged such that a plurality of resistors extend substantially over the entire width of the image (direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the infrared image member). ..

The recording width of the recording head may be shorter than the width of the image, but in such a case, the recording head is moved with respect to the infrared image member 10 in order to process the entire width of the image. It is configured in or used in combination with other recording heads.

By supplying an electric current to these resistors, a heating pulse is provided, while the infrared image member is imaged while being conveyed in a direction orthogonal to the array direction of the resistors of the recording head. The time that the infrared image member 10 is heated by the recording head 30 is typically in the range of about 0.001 to about 100 milliseconds per line of image. The upper limit is rationally set in consideration of the image printing time, but the lower limit is defined by the restrictions of the electronic circuit. The dot spacing of the formed image is generally in the range of 100 to 600 lines for each inch in both the transport direction and the vertical direction of the infrared image member 10, and may be different spacing in each direction. ..

The recording device described above is a type of thermal printer, but the recording method adopted by the device is also called the ZINK (Zero Ink) method or Zero Ink technology (registered trademark).

Here, in order to emphasize the effect of Example 1, the conventional recording method will be described first as a comparative example, and then this example will be described.

-Explanation of comparative examples (Figs. 6 to 7)
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing of the recording device 40 and the host PC 50 when the conventional print service is executed in the recording system described above. In FIG. 6, steps S601, S602, and S604 to S606 show the processing of the host PC 50, and steps S611 to S614 and S616 to S617 show the processing of the recording device 40. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, when the user desires to print, the processing of the host PC 50 starts, and the processing of the recording device 40 starts accordingly. Therefore, the recording device 40 confirms that it can print by itself in step S611, starts the printing service, and is in the print ready state (Ready).

In this state, when the host PC 50 executes the print service Discovery in step S601, the recording device 40 responds to the Discovery in step S612 and notifies that it is a device capable of providing the print service. Subsequently, in step S602, the host PC 50 acquires printable information. Basically, printable information is requested from the recording device 40, and in response to this, in step S614, the recording device 40 notifies the information of the printing service that the recording device 40 can provide.

Further, the host PC 50 constructs a user interface for creating a print job based on the printable information notified in step S604. Specifically, based on the printable information of the recording device 40, the print size, the printable paper size, and the like and appropriate options are displayed on the display and provided to the user. Subsequently, in step S605, the host PC 50 issues a print job.

In response to this, the recording device 40 receives the print job in step S614 and executes the print job in step S616. When printing based on the print job on the recording device 40 is completed, the recording device 40 notifies the host PC 50 of the completion of printing in step S617. The host PC 50 receives the print completion notification in step S606 and notifies the user to that effect.

When the print job is completed, the host PC 50 and the recording device 40 each complete a series of print service processes.

In the above description, all of the various information transmissions have been described by an example in which the host PC 50 makes a request to the recording device 40, and the recording device 40 responds to the request. However, the communication between the host PC and the recording device is not limited to the so-called pull type, and the recording device 40 voluntarily transmits to the host PC 50 (and other host PCs) existing in the network. , So-called push type may be used.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a heating pulse applied to the recording head of the recording device. In FIG. 7, the timing p0 is the earliest in time and becomes slower in time as the time axis moves from the left side to the right side.

The color to be developed is written on the left side of FIG. 7, and the corresponding heating pulse is written on the right side. For example, in the case of developing the color of yellow (Y), in order to realize the heating temperature and the heating time of the region 21 in FIG. 5, the time heating of Δt1 is executed twice in total at intervals of Δt0. Further, when the magenta (M) is colored, in order to realize the heating temperature and the heating time of the region 22 in FIG. 5, the time heating of Δt2 is executed three times in total at intervals of Δt0. Similarly, when the cyan (C) is colored, in order to realize the heating temperature and the heating time of the region 23 in FIG. 5, the time heating of Δt3 is executed four times in total at intervals of Δt0.

In addition, in FIG. 7, in order to facilitate understanding, it is assumed that the relationship of Δt1 × 2 = Δt2 × 3 = Δt3 × 4 is established, and the heating pulse applied to the recording head 30 regardless of which color is developed. The total time of is the same.

However, the heating time is
t2> Δt1 + Δt0> t1,
t3> Δt2 + Δt0 × 2> t2,
Δt3 + Δt0 × 3> t3,
The relative relationship of the heating time to each image forming layer is
The heating time of Y <heating time of M <heating time of C. Here, Y, M, and C refer to the

image forming layers

14, 16, and 18.

Here, the amount of heat applied by the recording head 30 is thermally conducted to the glaze 32 of the recording head 30, the substrate 31, and the heat sink 35 during the pulse interval Δt0, so that the temperature of the infrared image member 10 decreases. Similarly, the amount of heat conducted to the infrared image member 10 is also transferred to the platen 43 and the like, so that the temperature of the infrared image member 10 is lowered by that amount. As a result, since the input energy is the same, the relative relationship between the peak temperatures of each cambium due to heating is
The peak temperature of Y> the peak temperature of M> the peak temperature of C.

here,
Peak temperature of Y> Ta3
Ta3> M peak temperature> Ta2
Ta2> C peak temperature> Ta1
By controlling as follows, each color (primary color) of Y, M, and C can be independently developed.

Next, the heating pulse that controls the color development of the secondary colors R, G, B and the tertiary color K will be described. Here, the secondary color is a color reproduced by using any two of the primary colors (that is, Y, M, C), and the tertiary color is a color reproduced by using all the primary colors.

The heating pulse is controlled so that red (R) in FIG. 7 develops colors in the order of yellow (Y) → magenta (M). Further, the heating pulse of green (G) in FIG. 7 is controlled so that the colors are developed in the order of yellow (Y) → cyan (C). Similarly, blue (B) in FIG. 7 controls the heating pulse so that the colors develop in the order of magenta (M) → cyan (C). Finally, black (K) in FIG. 7 controls the heating pulse so that the color develops in the order of yellow (Y) → magenta (M) → cyan (C).

In this comparative example, in the color development of each of yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C) in a single color, only the last heating pulse contributes to the color development, and the pulse before that contributes to the preheating role. .. In FIG. 7, among the pulses, the pulse mainly used for preheating (preheating pulse) is shaded, and the pulse mainly used for color development (image formation pulse: main pulse) is outlined. The timing of applying each heating pulse is as follows for each color. That is,
Color preheating pulse image formation pulse application timing application timing Y p0 p1
M p2, p3 p4
C p5, p6, p7 p8
R p0 p1, p2, p3, p4
G p0 p1, p5, p6, p7, p8
B p2, p3 p4, p5, p6, p7, p8
K p0 p1, p2, p3, p4
p5, p6, p7, p8
Is.

In this way, the drive pulses that can be used for actual image formation are shortened. In particular, the pulses used to form an image of M in monochromatic M, C and B colors are very short. This is because, in the case of color development of other colors, the heating for the first Y color development has a preheating effect of the other colors.

Therefore, according to the comparative example described above, the colors not accompanied by the color development of yellow (Y), that is, the magenta (M) in magenta (M), cyan (C), and blue (B), are colored in each color. Most of the drive pulses used are used for preheating, which shortens the color development time. As a result, the color development area on the infrared image member 10 is narrow, and the color development is low.

Therefore, in the first embodiment, the following recording control processing is executed for the comparative example described above.

-Explanation of Examples (FIGS. 8 to 12)
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the processing of the recording device 40 and the host PC 50 when the print service according to the first embodiment is executed in the recording system described above. In FIG. 8, the same processing steps already described with reference to FIG. 6 are assigned the same step reference numbers, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In step S611 in FIG. 8, the recording device 40 confirms that it can print by itself and also supports high-color printing, and starts the printing service. Further, in response to the print service Discovery on the host PC 50 in step S601, the recording device 40 notifies in step S612 that the device can provide the print service including the high color printing service. Therefore, even in step S613, the recording device 40 notifies the printable information including the information of the high color printing service.

In response to this, the host PC 50 has information for selecting whether to use a normal printing service or a high-color printing service, specifically, a display and options of "printing service" and "high-color printing service". Is displayed on a display or the like to notify the user. That is, in step S603, the process checks whether the instruction from the user is the "printing service" or the "high color printing service".

Here, when the selection result by the user is "print service", the process proceeds to step S605 to execute the same process as described with reference to FIG. 6, but the selection result is "high color printing service". If so, the process proceeds to step S603A. Then, in step S603A, the host PC 50 constructs a user interface for creating a high-color printing job based on printable information. Specifically, the print size, the printable paper size, and the like are displayed on the screen based on the printable information from the recording device 40. Furthermore, in addition to giving a selection instruction from the user according to the display, a high color printing job is created by displaying a preview image with high color development and allowing the user to select a high color development method. do. Details of creating a high-color printing job will be described later with reference to FIGS. 10 to 11. After creating the high color printing job, the process proceeds to step S605.

On the other hand, the recording device 40 checks whether the print job received in step S615 is a normal print job or a high color printing job. Here, if the received print job is a high-color printing job, the process proceeds to step S615A, the high-color printing job is executed in the high-color printing mode, and then the process proceeds to step S617. On the other hand, when the received print job is a normal print job, the same process as described with reference to FIG. 6 is executed.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a heating pulse applied to the recording head of the recording device according to the process of the first embodiment. Note that, in FIG. 9, the same configurations and symbols as those described in FIG. 7 will be omitted, and only the configurations specific to the first embodiment will be described here.

As shown in FIG. 9, here, the pulse width of the first pulse of the drive pulse group for color development of each color is lengthened to obtain a preheating pulse. In FIG. 9, the preheating pulse for high color development is provided with a thick diagonal line, and is the following three pulses. That is,
A pulse having a pulse width of Δt4 applied at timing p2 for M color development, and a pulse having a pulse width of Δt4.
A pulse with a pulse width of Δt4 applied at timing p5 for C color development, and
A pulse with a pulse width of Δt4 applied at timing p2 for B color development, and
Is. Here, the preheating heating time Δt4 is
Heating time of Δt4 <Y Δt1 + Δt0 and Δt4 ≈ Δt1
And the relative relationship of heating time is
The heating time of Y <heating time of M <heating time of C remains the same as in the comparative example shown in FIG.

In this way, the pulse width Δt4 of the preheating pulse for high color development is
In the heating pulse for preheating for M color development, Y and C did not develop color,
It is a heating pulse for preheating for C color development, and is set so that Y and M do not develop color.

Here, the amount of heat applied by the recording head 30 is thermally conducted to the glaze 32, the substrate 31, and the heat sink 35 of the recording head 30 during the interval time Δt0, so that the temperature of the infrared image member 10 decreases. Similarly, the amount of heat that is heat-conducted to the infrared image member 10 propagates to the platen 43 and the like, so that the temperature of the infrared image member 10 is lowered by that amount. As a result, the input energies for M color and C color development increase by Δt4-Δt2 and Δt4-Δt3, respectively, but the peak temperature due to heating is
The peak temperature of Y> the peak temperature of M> the peak temperature of C remains the same as in the comparative example shown in FIG.

In this respect as well, the pulse width Δt4 of the preheating pulse for high color development is
In the heating pulse for preheating for M color development, Y and C did not develop color,
It is a heating pulse for preheating for C color development, and is set so that Y and M do not develop color.

However, due to the existence of the heating pulse for preheating,
The color development time of M at the time of M single color development approaches that at the time of R and K color development,
The color development time of C at the time of C single color development approaches that of G, B, K color development,
The color development time of M in the B color approaches the time of R and K color development. By controlling in this way, the color development time is lengthened, the color development area on the infrared image member 10 is widened, and a highly color-developed image is formed. Specifically, the details of the application timings of the preheating pulse and the image forming pulse constituting the heating pulse of each color are as follows. That is,
Color preheating pulse image formation pulse application timing application timing Y p0 p1
M p2 p3, p4
C p5 p6, p7, p8
R p0 p1, p2, p3, p4
G p0 p1, p5, p6, p7, p8
B p2 p3, p4, p5, p6, p7, p8
K p0 p1, p2, p3, p4
p5, p6, p7, p8
Is. As described above, the pulses that can be used for actual image formation are each longer.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an image process for driving a recording head by generating a heating pulse according to the first embodiment. This figure is a flowchart showing the details of the high color printing job execution in step S615A of FIG.

According to FIG. 10, in step S1001, the image data in the high color printing job received in step S814 is input. Next, when the image data is compressed or encoded in step S1002, the decoding process is executed, and further, the color correction process is executed in step S1003. This can be executed on the host PC 50 side, but it is preferable to perform the color correction on the recording device 40 when performing color correction according to the characteristics of the recording device 40. Even at this point, the image data is in a general RGB data format. However, at this point in time, it is generally RGB data that reflects the characteristics of the recording device 40, so-called device RGB.

Next, in step S1004, the luminance density conversion is executed. In a general thermal printer, when expressing each color component of each pixel with 8 bits,
C = 255-R
M = 255-G
Y = 255-B
Perform the conversion. Here, in the case of the preheating pulse control in this embodiment, for example, the preheating parameter for developing the magenta single color (M) and the preheating parameter for developing the red (R) are different. Therefore, it is desirable to perform luminance density conversion using a three-dimensional look-up table (3D_LUT) in order to set both individually. That is,
C = 3D_LUT [R] [G] [B] [0]
M = 3D_LUT [R] [G] [B] [1]
Y = 3D_LUT [R] [G] [B] [2]
PM = 3D_LUT [R] [G] [B] [3]
PC = 3D_LUT [R] [G] [B] [4]
Perform a conversion like. Here, PM and PC show the density values corresponding to the preheating pulses when the M color and the C color are developed, respectively.

Here, the above 3D_LUT is composed of 83886080 data tables of 256 × 256 × 256 × 5. Each data is the data of the pulse width applied to each timing p0 to p8 in FIG. 7. However, in order to reduce the amount of data, the number of grids may be reduced from 256 to 17, 24565 data tables of 17 × 17 × 17 × 5, and the result may be calculated by using interpolation calculation together. As a matter of course, in addition to the 17 grids, a suitable number of grids such as 16 grids, 9 grids, and 8 grids may be set as appropriate. As the interpolation method, any method such as known tetrahedral interpolation may be used.

Therefore,
Control pulses and preheating parameters that make up yellow (Y),
Control pulses and preheating parameters that make up magenta (M),
Control parameters and preheating parameters that make up cyan (C),
Magenta and yellow control parameters and preheating parameters that make up red (R),
Yellow and cyan control parameters and preheating parameters that make up green (G),
Magenta and cyan control parameters and preheating parameters that make up blue (B),
The yellow, magenta and cyan control parameters and preheating parameters that make up black (K) can be set independently.

Further, in step S1005, output correction is executed. First, a one-dimensional look-up of the pulse widths (c, m, y, pm, pc) for realizing the color development of each concentration component C, M, Y and the preheating (pm, pc) for magenta and cyan color development. Calculated using the table (1D_LUT). That is,
c = 1D_LUT [C]
m = 1D_LUT [M]
y = 1D_LUT [Y]
pm = 1D_LUT [PM]
pc = 1D_LUT [PC]
Is calculated. Here, the maximum value of c is Δt3, the maximum value of m is Δt2, the maximum value of y is Δt1, and the maximum values of pm and pc are Δt4. Since the recording device 40 can modulate the color development intensity with the infrared image member 10 by pulse width modulation (PWM), if the above-mentioned c, m, y, pm, and pc are smaller than the maximum values, the pulse width is appropriately shortened. The desired tone can be achieved. This process may use known means.

In order to realize the pulse control processing shown in FIG. 9, for example, in M single color (R = 255, G = 0, B = 255),
C = 3D_LUT [255] [0] [255] [0] = 0
M = 3D_LUT [255] [0] [255] [1] = Δt2
Y = 3D_LUT [255] [0] [255] [2] = 0
PM = 3D_LUT [255] [0] [255] [3] = Δt4
PC = 3D_LUT [255] [0] [255] [4] = 0
Must be set.

Similarly, in C single color (R = 0, G = 255, B = 255),
C = 3D_LUT [0] [255] [255] [0] = Δt3
M = 3D_LUT [0] [255] [255] [1] = 0
Y = 3D_LUT [0] [255] [255] [2] = 0
PM = 3D_LUT [0] [255] [255] [3] = Δt4
PC = 3D_LUT [0] [255] [255] [4] = 0
Must be set.

Further, here, the heating pulse by the recording head 30 is modulated by the temperature of the infrared image member 10 acquired by a temperature sensor (not shown) or the like. Specifically, as the acquisition temperature increases, the pulse width required to reach the active temperature is controlled to be shortened. This process may use known means. Further, the temperature of the infrared image member 10 may be controlled not only by direct detection by a temperature sensor (not shown) or the like, but also by the CPU 501 executing temperature estimation of the infrared image member 10 and controlling the temperature based on the estimated temperature. Any known method may be used as the temperature estimation method.

Further, in step S1006, a preheating pulse for high color development is generated and synthesized. Here, the preheating pulse intensity for high color development is defined as pre.

Next, the pulse width and the preheating pulse for composing the image are combined. That is, the pulse widths at timings p0 to p8 are p0 = y, p1 = y, p2 = max (m, pm), p3 = m, p4 = m, p5 = max (c, pc), p6 = c, p7. Pulses are synthesized with = c and p8 = c. Here, max (x, y) is a function that sets the larger value of x and y. When it is realized by superimposing the pulses generated by each electric circuit,
p2 = m or pm
It may be set as p5 = c or pc. Here, x or y represents the logical sum of the signal x and the signal y.

Next, in step S1007, head control is executed. That is, by controlling the pulse widths at the timings p0 to p8, desired color development and high color development processing are formed on the infrared image member 10.

Next, it is checked whether the recording of the page is completed in step S1008, and if the result is No, the process returns to step S1003 to record the continuation of the page, and if the result is Yes, the printing process is performed. finish.

Therefore, according to the above-described embodiment, high color development recording can be realized for each pixel on the infrared image member.

<Modification example 1>
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a heating pulse applied to the recording head of the recording device according to the first modification of the first embodiment. Note that, in FIG. 11, the same configurations and symbols as those described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 9 will be omitted, and only the configurations specific to the first modification of the first embodiment will be described here.

Here, the preheating pulse represented by the dark diagonal line is always applied at the timing p0. By controlling in this way, it is possible to simplify the control on the circuit by using the heating pulse for color development and the preheating pulse as separate pulses.

Also, as can be easily understood from FIG. 11, since the shapes of the pulses that develop each color are very similar to each other,
The difference in the degree of color development of C color between C color, G color, and B color,
The difference in the degree of color development of M color in each of M color, R color, and B color,
Can be made smaller, and the color gradation can be expressed smoothly.

Furthermore, since the timing of applying the preheating pulse is one place (timing p0), it is sufficient to set one type of preheating pulse, and there is an effect that the amount of preheating control parameters can be reduced by half.

As a specific processing method, the luminance density conversion using the three-dimensional look-up table is performed as follows. That is,
C = 3D_LUT [R] [G] [B] [0]
M = 3D_LUT [R] [G] [B] [1]
Y = 3D_LUT [R] [G] [B] [2]
P = 3D_LUT [R] [G] [B] [3]
Is calculated. Here, P indicates a concentration value corresponding to the preheating pulse.

Next, the pulse width for realizing each C, M, Y concentration and preheating intensity is calculated. That is,
c = 1D_LUT [C]
m = 1D_LUT [M]
y = 1D_LUT [Y]
p = 1D_LUT [P]
Is calculated, and each pulse width at timings p0 to p8 is calculated.
Pulses are synthesized with p0 = max (y, p), p1 = y, p2 = m, p3 = m, p4 = m, p5 = c, p6 = c, p7 = c, p8 = c.

In addition, when it is realized by superimposing the pulses generated by the electric circuit, the pulse width at the timing p0 is set to p0 = max (m, p).
You can do it like this. Here, x or y represents the logical sum of the signal x and the signal y.

By controlling the pulse width at each timing as described above, it is possible to realize a high color development recording mode in which the heating position by the preheating pulse is fixed and the color gradation can be expressed smoothly by a simpler system.

<Modification 2>
FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a heating pulse applied to the recording head of the recording device according to the second modification of the first embodiment. Note that, in FIG. 12, the same configurations and symbols as those described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 9 will be omitted, and only the configurations specific to the second modification of the first embodiment will be described here.

Here, an example of realizing a preheating pulse by using a coloring pulse of another color without setting a dedicated preheating pulse will be described.

Among the pulses shown in FIG. 12, the heating pulse group for preheating for high color development (those with dark diagonal lines) is the following three pulse groups. That is,
A pulse with a heating time Δt5 applied at timings p0 and p1 for M color development, and
A pulse with a heating time Δt6 applied at timings p2, p3, and p4 for C color development, and
A pulse with a heating time Δt5 applied at timings p0 and p1 for B color development, and
Is.

Here, the heating times Δt5 and Δt6 for preheating are, respectively.
Δt5 <Y heating time Δt1 / 2,
Heating time of Δt6 <M Δt2 / 2
It has become. As described above, the preheating heating times Δt5 and Δt6 are set to be equal to or less than half the pulse widths of the heating time Δt1 of Y and the heating time Δt2 / 2 of M, respectively, for the following reasons. That is, the preheating heating pulse alone does not develop color, and even if it is heated in combination with the coloring pulse, it is set as a pulse having a width in which other colors do not develop, and it is arbitrary as long as it is within that range. This is because it can be set to.

Here, the control is further simplified by performing the heating pulse for preheating by using the heating pulse for other color development that is weak and does not lead to color development.

As a specific processing method, in order to realize the heating pulse for preheating shown in FIG. 12, the luminance density conversion using the three-dimensional look-up table is performed as follows. That is,
C = 3D_LUT [R] [G] [B] [0]
M = 3D_LUT [R] [G] [B] [1]
Y = 3D_LUT [R] [G] [B] [2]
Is calculated.

To realize the process described in FIG. 12, for example, in M single color (R = 255, G = 0, B = 255),
C = 3D_LUT [255] [0] [255] [0] = 0
M = 3D_LUT [255] [0] [255] [1] = Δt2
Y = 3D_LUT [255] [0] [255] [2] = Δt1 / 2
Must be set.

Similarly, in C single color (R = 0, G = 255, B = 255),
C = 3D_LUT [0] [255] [255] [0] = Δt3
M = 3D_LUT [0] [255] [255] [1] = Δt2 / 2
Y = 3D_LUT [0] [255] [255] [2] = 0
Must be set.

By setting in this way, the subsequent processing can be performed in the same manner as in the comparative example, and a high color development recording mode can be realized with a simple configuration without setting a dedicated preheating heating pulse separately from the color development pulse. ..

Although M single color, C single color, and B color have been described here, the preheating control according to the present invention can also be applied to halftone colors. For example, high color development recording can be realized by setting an appropriate preheating heating pulse even in a gradation of white to M color, a gradation of white to C color, and a gradation of white to B color.

<Modification example 3>
FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a heating pulse applied to the recording head of the recording device according to the third modification of the first embodiment. Note that, in FIG. 13, the same configurations and symbols as those described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 9 will be omitted, and only the configurations specific to the third modification of the first embodiment will be described here.

This example has the advantage that the color gradation described in the first modification of the first embodiment can be smoothly expressed, and the dedicated preheating heating pulse described in the second modification of the first embodiment is set separately from the color development pulse. It is a configuration that realizes both the advantages of being able to configure without having to do it at the same time.

Among the pulses shown in FIG. 13, the heating pulse group for preheating for medium and high color development is the following three pulse group. That is,
A pulse with a heating time Δt5 applied at timings p0 and p1 for M color development, and
A pulse with a heating time Δt5 applied at timings p0 and p1 for C color development, and
A pulse with a heating time Δt5 applied at timings p0 and p1 for B color development, and
Is. Here, the heating time Δt5 for preheating is the same as described with reference to FIG.
Heating time Δt5 <Y Δt1 / 2
It has become.

As a specific processing method, in order to realize the heating pulse for preheating shown in FIG. 13, the luminance density conversion using the three-dimensional look-up table is performed as follows. That is,
C = 3D_LUT [R] [G] [B] [0]
M = 3D_LUT [R] [G] [B] [1]
Y = 3D_LUT [R] [G] [B] [2]
Is calculated.

Similarly, in C single color (R = 0, G = 255, B = 255),
C = 3D_LUT [0] [255] [255] [0] = Δt3
M = 3D_LUT [0] [255] [255] [1] = 0
Y = 3D_LUT [0] [255] [255] [2] = Δt1 / 2
Must be set.

In Example 1, an example in which a preheating pulse contributes to a longer color development time to achieve high color development has been described, but in this example, an example in which the longer color development time is used to improve the printing speed will be described. do.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the processing of the recording device 40 and the host PC 50 when the high-speed print service according to the second embodiment is executed in the recording system described above. In FIG. 14, the same processing steps already described with reference to FIG. 6 are assigned the same step reference numbers, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In step S611 in FIG. 14, the recording device 40 confirms that it can print by itself and also supports high-speed printing, and starts the printing service. Further, in response to the print service Discovery on the host PC 50 in step S601, the recording device 40 notifies in step S612 that the device can provide the print service including the high-speed print service. Therefore, even in step S613, the recording device 40 notifies the printable information including the information of the high-speed printing service.

In response to this, the host PC 50 displays information for selecting whether to use a normal printing service or a high-speed printing service, specifically, a display and options of "printing service" and "high-speed printing service". Notify the user by displaying on. That is, in step S603', the process checks whether the instruction from the user is the "printing service" or the "high-speed printing service".

Here, when the selection result by the user is "print service", the process proceeds to step S604 to execute the same process as described with reference to FIG. 6, but the selection result is "high-speed print service". In that case, the process proceeds to step S603 ", and in step S603", the host PC 50 builds a user interface for creating a high-speed print job based on the printable information. Specifically, based on the printable information from the recording device 40, the print size, the printable paper size, and the like are displayed on the screen, and the user gives a selection instruction according to the screen display. In addition to this, a high-speed print job is created while making the user recognize high-speed printing by displaying a preview image as an animation at high speed. After creating the high-speed print job, the process proceeds to step S605.

On the other hand, the recording device 40 checks whether the print job received in step S615'is a normal print job or a high-speed print job. Here, if the received print job is a high-speed print job, the process proceeds to step S615 ”, the high-speed print job is executed in the high-speed print mode, and then the process proceeds to step S617. When the printed job is a normal print job, the same process as described with reference to FIG. 6 is executed.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a heating pulse applied to the recording head of the recording device according to the process of the second embodiment. Note that, in FIG. 15, the same configurations and symbols as those described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 9 will be omitted, and only the configurations specific to the second embodiment will be described here.

In this embodiment, the printing speed is improved while maintaining the control configuration shown in the comparative example by using the effect that the number of pulses contributing to color development is increased by the heating pulse for preheating.

As shown in FIG. 15, when yellow (Y) is developed, in order to realize control that satisfies the region 21 (the temperature of the recording head is relatively high and the heating time is relatively short) shown in FIG. A heating pulse is applied so that the heating time Δt1 is twice at the time interval Δt0. Further, when the magenta (M) is colored, a heating pulse is applied so that the heating time Δt2 is twice at the time interval Δt0. Similarly, when the cyan (C) is colored, a heating pulse is applied so that the heating time Δt3 becomes 3 times at the time interval Δt0.

By the way, comparing FIGS. 15 and 7, since the number of pulses for M heating and the number of pulses for C heating are smaller by one in the past, the M single color, the C single color, and the M color in B are heated. The pulse is too short and the color is weakened. On the other hand, for other colors, the decrease in color development is small for the following reasons. That is,
For R color, heating for Y color development plays a role of preheating for M color development.
For G color, heating for Y color development plays a role of preheating for C color development.
For K color, heating for Y color development plays a role of preheating for M and C color development.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 15, a preheating heating pulse (a pulse with a dark diagonal line in the figure) having a long pulse width is applied only immediately before the start of the heating pulse of the M monochromatic color, the C monochromatic color, and the M color in B. Apply once.

By using the preheating heating pulse having a long pulse width in this way, in Comparative Example and Example 1, a total of nine timings p0 to p8 were required to form an image of one pixel. In the embodiment, a total of seven timings p0 to p6 can be realized. As a result, about 20% can be recorded at high speed.

Since the image processing for generating the heating pulse and driving the recording head according to the first embodiment is almost the same as the process described with reference to FIG. 10 in the first embodiment, the description of the same process is omitted. do.

In this embodiment, the processing of the luminance density conversion and the output correction is performed in the same manner as the pulse control described with reference to FIG. 10 of the first embodiment. In the subsequent preheating pulse generation & synthesis in step S1006, the pulse widths at timings p0 to p6 are set to p0 = y, p1 = max (y, pm), p2 = m, p3 = max (m, pc), p4 =. Pulses are synthesized with c, p5 = c, and p6 = c.

In addition, when it is realized by superimposing the pulses generated by the electric circuit, p1 = y or pm and p3 = m or pc may be used.

According to the above-described embodiment, the printing speed can be improved by using the preheating heating pulse for a longer color development time.

<Modification example 1>
FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a heating pulse applied to the recording head of the recording device according to the first modification of the second embodiment. Note that, in FIG. 16, the same configurations and symbols as those described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 9 will be omitted, and only the configurations specific to the first modification of the second embodiment will be described here.

This modification simultaneously improves the printing speed by utilizing the longer color development time described in the second embodiment, improves the smoothness of the gradation described in the first modification of the first embodiment, and simplifies the control configuration. This is an example of realization.

In this modified example, as shown in FIG. 16, as described in the modified example 1 of the first embodiment, the preheating heating pulse is applied at the timing p0. Further, as in the second embodiment, when the magenta (M) is colored, the drive pulses of the heating time Δt2 are applied twice in total at the time interval Δt0. Further, when the cyan (C) is further colored, the drive pulse of the heating time Δt3 is applied three times in total at the time interval Δt0 as in the second embodiment.

Note that the image processing according to this modification is the same as the processing described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 10, so the description thereof will be omitted.

In this modified example, the processing of the luminance density conversion and the output correction is executed in the same manner as the pulse control described with reference to FIG. 10 of the first embodiment. In the subsequent preheating pulse generation & synthesis in step S1006, each pulse width at timings p0 to p6 is set to p0 = max (y, p), p1 = y, p2 = m, p3 = m, p4 = c, p5 = c. , P6 = c and synthesize the pulse.

If it is realized by superimposing the pulses generated by the electric circuit, p0 = y or p may be used.

By controlling in this way, the preheating heating pulse is used at the beginning timing of Y color development to extend the color development time to improve the printing speed, improve the smoothness of the gradation, and simplify the configuration. Can be realized at the same time.

<Modification 2>
FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a heating pulse applied to the recording head of the recording device according to the second modification of the second embodiment. Note that, in FIG. 17, the same configurations and symbols as those described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 9 will be omitted, and only the configurations specific to the second modification of the second embodiment will be described here.

In this modification, the printing speed is improved by utilizing the longer color development time described in the second embodiment, and the preheating heating pulse described in the second modification of the first embodiment uses a color development pulse of another color. This is an example of simultaneously realizing both a configuration that simplifies control.

In this modified example, as described in the modified example 2 of the first embodiment, a color-developing pulse of another color is applied to the preheating heating pulse.

Specifically, in order to realize the heating pulse for preheating shown in FIG.
Luminance density conversion using a three-dimensional look-up table is executed as follows. That is,
C = 3D_LUT [R] [G] [B] [0]
M = 3D_LUT [R] [G] [B] [1]
Y = 3D_LUT [R] [G] [B] [2]
Is calculated. In order to realize the process described in FIG. 17, for example, in M single color (R = 255, G = 0, B = 255),
C = 3D_LUT [255] [0] [255] [0] = 0
M = 3D_LUT [255] [0] [255] [1] = Δt2
Y = 3D_LUT [255] [0] [255] [2] = Δt1 / 2
Must be set.

By setting in this way, the subsequent processing is executed in the same way as in the comparative example, so the high-speed recording mode can be set with a simple control configuration without separately setting the dedicated heating pulse for preheating and the pulse for color development. realizable. Further, in this example, as in the modified example 2 of the first embodiment, for example, in the gradation of white to M color, the gradation of white to C color, and the gradation of white to B color, an appropriate preheating heating pulse is set. High-speed recording can be realized.

<Modification example 3>
FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of a heating pulse applied to the recording head of the recording device according to the third modification of the second embodiment. Note that, in FIG. 18, the same configurations and symbols as those described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 9 will be omitted, and only the configurations specific to the modified example 3 of the second embodiment will be described here.

This modification has the advantage that the color gradation can be smoothly expressed as described in the first modification of the second embodiment, and the dedicated preheating heating pulse and the coloring pulse described in the second modification of the first embodiment. This is an example that realizes both the advantages of not having to set and separately at the same time.

Among the pulses shown in FIG. 18, the heating pulse group for preheating for medium and high color development is the following three pulse group. That is,
A pulse with a heating time Δt5 applied at timings p0 and p1 for M color development, and
A pulse with a heating time Δt5 applied at timings p0 and p1 for C color development, and
A pulse with a heating time Δt5 applied at timings p0 and p1 for B color development, and
Is. Here, the heating time Δt5 for preheating is the heating time Δt1 / 2 of Δt5 <Y, as shown in FIG.

Specifically, in order to realize the heating pulse for preheating shown in FIG. 18, the luminance density conversion using the three-dimensional look-up table is performed as follows. That is,
C = 3D_LUT [R] [G] [B] [0]
M = 3D_LUT [R] [G] [B] [1]
Y = 3D_LUT [R] [G] [B] [2]
Is calculated. To realize the processing shown in FIG. 18, for example, in M single color (R = 255, G = 0, B = 255),
C = 3D_LUT [255] [0] [255] [0] = 0
M = 3D_LUT [255] [0] [255] [1] = Δt2
Y = 3D_LUT [255] [0] [255] [2] = Δt1 / 2
Must be set.

By setting in this way, the subsequent processing can be executed in the same manner as in the comparative example, and a high-speed recording mode can be realized with a simple configuration without separately setting a dedicated heating pulse for preheating and a pulse for coloring. ..

Further, although the processes of steps S1003 to S1006 in FIG. 10 are executed individually, it is not always necessary to execute the processes individually, and the processes may be collectively executed in one step as described below. That is, each pulse width at timings p0 to p6 may be calculated as follows using a three-dimensional look-up table. That is,
p0 = 3D_LUT [R] [G] [B] [0]
p1 = 3D_LUT [R] [G] [B] [1]
p2 = 3D_LUT [R] [G] [B] [2]
p3 = 3D_LUT [R] [G] [B] [3]
p4 = 3D_LUT [R] [G] [B] [4]
p5 = 3D_LUT [R] [G] [B] [5]
p6 = 3D_LUT [R] [G] [B] [6]
Is calculated.

The above timings p0 to p6 are set when the processing of the second embodiment is integrated into one step, and in the case of the processing of the first embodiment, p7 = 3D_LUT [R] [G] [B] [7]. ]
p8 = 3D_LUT [R] [G] [B] [8]
Should be added.

By performing such an operation, the pulse width of each timing for driving the heater of the recording head 30 is uniquely determined, so that there is an advantage that it can be realized with a very simple configuration.

In addition, by adopting the above configuration, it is possible to control an arbitrary pulse according to the combination of three YMC colors, and there is an advantage that the degree of freedom of control is greatly increased.

In the first embodiment, an example of realizing high color development in which the preheating pulse contributes to a longer color development time will be described, and in the second embodiment, an example of using the longer color development time to improve the printing speed will be described. did. In each of these examples, the preheating pulse is determined by executing the luminance density conversion using 3D_LUT for each color component of the recording device (thermal printer) from each pixel value of the image data. In this embodiment, in order to improve the color development of the image start end in the transport direction of the recording medium (infrared image member) 10 of FIG. 1, the preheating pulse for each pixel in the transport direction is set to the value of each pixel. An example of determining from is described.

As explained in Example 1, heating for the development of a certain color has a preheating effect of another color that develops after that color. That is, the heating executed in advance in each pixel has the effect of preheating the subsequent heating. The preheating effect due to such preheating occurs not only within the pixels but also between the pixels.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing the relationship between the image I formed on the infrared image member 10 and the transport direction D of the infrared image member 10.

In FIG. 19, the portion indicated by the diagonal line is the image I, and in the image I, the pixel region in which the most downstream pixels are arranged in the direction intersecting the transport direction D with respect to the transport direction D is the image start IA, and the other regions are the image start IA. Shown as internal region IB. Further, regarding the transport direction D, the region in which the pixels having no color-developing data immediately before the image I are lined up in the direction intersecting the transport direction D is shown as the immediately preceding pixel region IW. In FIG. 19, for example, when the image I is recorded using the heating pulse shown in FIG. 7 in the comparative example, the preheating effect of the immediately preceding pixel region IW on the image start end IA is the preheating effect between the pixels in the internal region IB of the image. Smaller than This is because there is no heating pulse for the white pixels that are continuous up to the immediately preceding pixel region IW of the image starting end IA, so that the pixels of the image starting end IA have little contribution of preheating from the immediately preceding pixel region IW.

Further, in the C monochromatic color development in FIG. 7, p5 to p7 are described as preheating pulses and p8 are image forming pulses. However, the number of preheating pulses required for the image start IA is larger than that of the internal region B, and the image forming pulses are formed. Tends to decrease. That is, as compared with the color development of the internal region IB, the color development region of the image start end IA is narrower in the transport direction, resulting in an image with low color development.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of a heating pulse applied to the recording head 30 of the recording device 40 according to the third embodiment. Note that, in FIG. 20, the same configurations and symbols as those described in FIG. 7 will be omitted, and only the configurations specific to the third embodiment will be described here.

In FIG. 20, p'0 to p'8 indicate the heating timing in the pixel region IW immediately before the image start end IA, and p0 to p8 indicate the heating timing of the image start end IA. The heating pulse of the image start end IA in FIG. 20 is based on the heating pulse of FIG. 7, and the same applies to FIGS. 21 and 22A to 22B described later. In FIG. 20, the diagonal line also indicates the preheating pulse. The heat generated by the preheating pulse applied to the immediately preceding pixel region IW not only preheats the immediately preceding pixel region IW, but also exerts a preheating effect on the image start end IA. The amount of heat generated by the pulse applied by the recording head 30 propagates not only in the depth direction of the infrared image member 10 but also in a part in the transport direction to heat the infrared image member 10, so that the preheating pulse in the immediately preceding pixel region IW is The image start IA also has a preheating effect. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the difference in the preheating effect between the image start end IA and the internal region IB in FIG. 20. Specifically, the details of the application timings of the preheating pulse and the image forming pulse constituting the heating pulse of each color are as follows. That is,
Color Immediately preceding pixel area IW image start IA image start IA preheat pulse Preheat pulse image formation pulse application timing application timing application timing Y p'8 p0 p1
M p'7, p'8 p2, p3 p4
C p'6, p'7, p'8 p5, p6, p7 p8
R p'8 p0 p1 to p4
G p'6, p'7, p'8 p0 p1, p5 to p8
B p'7, p'8 p2, p3 p4 to p8
K p'8 p0 p1 to p6
Is. Since the heating pulse applied to the immediately preceding pixel region IW is a preheating pulse unlike the image start IA, the immediately preceding pixel region IW does not develop color. Further, in FIG. 20, the preheating pulse of the immediately preceding pixel region IW reflects the characteristics of each color.

First, one feature of preheating of the immediately preceding pixel region IW when the image start IA is Y, M, and C monochromatic color development will be described.

The relationship between the preheating pulse widths of Y, M, and C in the immediately preceding pixel P is Y> M> C (Δt'1> Δt'2> Δt'3). Here, the preheating pulse width is used for explanation, but the so-called duty ratio or duty cycle can also be used for explanation. The duty ratio or duty cycle is the ratio of the period during which the pulse (signal) is not zero in a certain period. In the example of FIG. 20, for the preheating pulse of the pixel region IW immediately before Y, a certain period is Δt0, and the period in which the signal in the period Δt0 is not zero is Δt'1. Therefore, the duty ratio of the preheating pulse of the pixel region IW immediately before Y is Δt ′ 1 / Δt0. Similarly, the preheating pulse duty ratio of the immediately preceding pixel region IW of M is Δt'2 / Δt0, and the preheating pulse duty ratio of the immediately preceding pixel region IW of C is Δt'3 / Δt0.

In FIG. 20, Δt'1, Δt'2, and Δt'3 are drawn as one pulse having a different width, but the preheating pulse is not limited to this. For example, the pulse widths ΔT'1, ΔT'2, and ΔT'3 may be divided into pulses having a narrower width. In this case, at Δt0, the ratio of the total period during which the divided signals are not zero is the duty ratio or duty cycle. The relationship between the duty ratios of the Y, M, and C preheating pulses in the immediately preceding pixel P is Y> M> C (Δt'1 / Δt0> Δt'2 / Δt0> Δt'3 / Δt0).

Next, another feature of preheating of the immediately preceding pixel region IW when the image start IA is Y, M, and C monochromatic color development will be described.

The number of times each application timing of the preheating pulse of the pixel region IW immediately before Y, M, and C is Y <M <C. In the example of FIG. 20, Y (1 time) <M (2 times) <C (3 times). Assuming that Δt0 is a pulse period, since the period is time, the total application time can be calculated by multiplying the period by the number of times. Each application time of the preheating pulse of the pixel region IW immediately before Y, M, and C is Y <M <C.

Y is formed by the image forming layer 14 of FIG. 4, and the activation temperature Ta3 is higher than the activation temperatures Ta2 and Ta1 of the

image forming layers

16 and 18. Therefore, the preheating pulse width is widened and a high temperature is applied to the infrared image member 10. At this time, the number of application timings is reduced so that the image forming layers 16 and the image forming layers 18 of M and C do not reach the activation temperatures Ta2 and Ta1, respectively. On the other hand, the activation temperature Ta1 of the image forming layer 18 that develops color C is the lowest. Therefore, the preheating pulse width is reduced and a low temperature is applied to the infrared image member 10. At this time, since the heat diffusion at a low temperature generated by the applied preheating pulse is suppressed by the spacer layer 15 and the spacer layer 17 in the middle, the heat at a low temperature is transferred to the image of C by increasing the number of application timings. It is diffused into the cambium 18. Since the image forming layer 16 that develops color M is located between the image forming layer 14 of Y and the image forming layer 18 of C, both the preheating pulse width and the number of times of application timing are between Y and C.

Further, the characteristics of preheating of the immediately preceding pixel region IW when the image start IA is R and K color development will be described.

In this case, the preheating pulse width is Δt'1 and the application timing is p'8. Since the image forming layer 14 of Y is used for the color development of R and K, the characteristics of the preheating pulse are the same as those of the Y monochromatic color development.

Next, the characteristics of preheating of the immediately preceding pixel region IW when the image start IA is G color development will be described.

In this case, the preheating pulse width is Δt'3, and the application timings are p'6, p'7, and p'8. The image forming layer 14 of Y is also used for G coloring, and although the preheating pulse of Y monochromatic coloring exerts a particularly effective preheating effect on the image forming layer 14 of Y, the preheating effect of C on the image forming 18 is not big. In the case of G color development, it is more preferable to give priority to the preheating effect on p5, p6, and p7 that develop C in the image start IA, and to use a preheating pulse similar to C monochromatic color development. Since the image forming layer 14 of Y is located shallower than the image forming layer 18 of C, the preheating temperature can be higher than that of the image forming 18 even if the preheating pulse giving priority to C color development is used.

Finally, the characteristics of preheating of the immediately preceding pixel region IW when the image start IA is B color development will be described.

In this case, the preheating pulse width is Δt'2, and the application timings are p'7 and p'8. Since the image forming layer 16 of M is used for the color development of B, the characteristics of the preheating pulse are the same as those of the monochromatic color of M. The preheating pulse and the preheating pulses of the application timings p2 and p3 of the image start IA can generate an application time capable of preheating the image forming layer 18 of C.

As described above, it is preferable to make the preheating pulse of the immediately preceding pixel region IW have the above-mentioned characteristics according to the color developed at the image tip A.

As described above, for R, B, and K, it has been explained that the same preheating pulse as that at the time of monochromatic color development of the image forming layer having the highest activation temperature among the activating image forming layers is applied to the immediately preceding pixel region IW. This is because the image tip A is activated from the image forming layer having a high activation temperature. The present invention is not limited thereto. This is because even if the preheating pulse at the time of monochromatic color development of another image forming layer is used, there is at least a preheating effect for any of the layers.

FIG. 21 is a diagram for explaining the application timing of the preheating pulse in the immediately preceding pixel region IW, which is different from that in FIG. That is,
Color Immediately preceding pixel area IW image start IA image start IA preheat pulse Preheat pulse image formation pulse application timing application timing application timing Y p'8 p0 p1
M p'6, p'7 p2, p3 p4
C p'3, p'4, p'5 p5, p6, p7 p8
R p'8 p0 p1 to p4
G p'3, p'4, p'5 p0 p1, p5 to p8
B p'6, p'7 p2, p3 p4 to p8
K p'8 p0 p1 to p6
Is.

In the example shown in FIG. 21, there is no preheating pulse that overlaps with the application timings of Y, M, and C in the immediately preceding pixel region IW. Comparing the temperature changes with respect to the elapsed time of the image forming layer 14 of Y and the image forming layer 16 of M, since the image forming layer 16 at a deeper position is smaller, the preheating pulse at the application timings p'6 and p'7. After raising the temperature with, the time until the temperature drops becomes longer. Since the image forming layer 18 of C is located at a deeper position, the time until the temperature drops is further extended. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 21, the preheating effect is produced even if the preheating pulses of M and C of the immediately preceding pixel region IW are applied and then the timing of not applying the preheating pulses is set. However, since the temperature drops at the timing when the preheating pulse is not applied, the preheating effect on the image start IA is higher in the example shown in FIG.

22A to 22B are flowcharts showing image processing for driving a recording head by generating a heating pulse according to the third embodiment. This figure is a flowchart showing the details of the print job execution in step S616 in each of FIGS. 6, 8, and 14. In FIGS. 22A to 22B, the same processing steps already described in FIG. 10 are designated by the same step reference numbers, and the description thereof will be omitted. Here, only the processing steps specific to this embodiment will be described.

According to FIGS. 22A to 22B, first, in step S1000, the flag value (described later) is initialized to "0". After that, in step S1001, the image data is input, and in step S1002, the decoding process is executed when the image data is compressed or encoded. In step S1002-1, it is examined whether the line (n line) being processed in the direction orthogonal to the transport direction D is the non-color-developing range and the next (n + 1) line is the color-developing range. Here, if the result is Yes, the process proceeds to step S1002a, and if the result is No, the process proceeds to step S1002-2.

In step S1002a, pixels of n lines and (n + 1) lines of image data are input in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction D. In step S1002b, the same color correction process as in step S1003 is executed. Further, in step S1002c, it is checked whether the n-line pixels are the specific color data. In this example, it is examined whether or not the specific color is "white", that is, R = 255, G = 255, and B = 255. Here, if the pixel is white (Yes), which is a specific color, the process proceeds to step S1002d, and the n-line pixel is processed as the immediately preceding pixel region IW. On the other hand, if the pixel is not a specific color (No), the process proceeds to step S1004.

By the way, in step S1002d, the value of the flag is set to "1". Next, in step S1002e, the preheating luminance density conversion is executed using the preheating three-dimensional look-up table (3D_LUTpre). In this process, the pixel value of the (n + 1) line of the image data is input to 3D_LUTpre to generate the density value corresponding to the preheating pulse of each pixel of the n line of the white data. That is,
PY = 3D_LUTpre [R] [G] [B] [0]
PM = 3D_LUTpre [R] [G] [B] [1]
PC = 3D_LUTpre [R] [G] [B] [2]
Perform the conversion of. Here, PY, PM, and PC show density values corresponding to preheating pulses of the pixel region IW immediately before Y, M, and C color development of n lines, respectively. The n-line pixel corresponds to the immediately preceding pixel region IW in FIG. 19, and the (n + 1) line pixel corresponds to the pixel start end A.

Here, the above 3D_LUTpre is composed of 256 × 256 × 256 × 3 data tables of 50331648. Each data is density value data corresponding to the pulse width applied to each application timing p'0 to p'8 in FIGS. 20 and 21. In addition, in order to reduce the amount of LUT data, the number of grids may be reduced as in 3D_LUT of Example 1. Whether or not the preheating pulse is applied at any of the application timings p'0 to p'8 of each color may be determined in advance at the application timings shown in FIGS. 20 and 21. The preheating pulse width described later corresponding to the concentration value determined by 3D_LUTpre may be applied at a predetermined application timing. Further, by setting the concentration value corresponding to the preheating pulse width of the application timing p'0 to p'8 to the 3D_LUTpre for each application timing, both the concentration value corresponding to the preheating pulse width and the application timing can be determined by the 3D_LUTpre. .. That is,
PY = 3D_LUTpre [R] [G] [B] [0] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
PM = 3D_LUTpre [R] [G] [B] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17]
PC = 3D_LUTpre [R] [G] [B] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26]
Is calculated.

Here, each of [0] to [8], [9] to [17], and [18] to [26] corresponds to the storage of the data of the preheating pulse width of the application timings p'0 to p'8. ing.

Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 20 and 21, the preheating parameter of the immediately preceding pixel region IW can be set independently for each color.

Next, in step S1002f, preheating output correction is executed. Specifically, using a one-dimensional look-up table for preheating (1D_LUTpre), the preheating pulse widths py, pm, and pc are calculated from the concentration values PY, PM, and PC corresponding to the preheating pulse width. That is,
py = 1D_LUTpre [PY]
pm = 1D_LUTpre [PM]
pc = 1D_LUTpre [PC]
Is calculated. Then, in step S1002g, preheating pulse generation and synthesis are executed. A preheating pulse is set for the application timings p'0 to p'8.

In FIG. 20, a plurality of preheating pulse widths py, pm, and pc may have the same application timing. However, it is necessary to determine one of the preheating pulse widths for one application timing. There are multiple ways to determine it.

For example, when giving priority to preventing color development in the immediately preceding pixel region IW, the minimum values of non-zero py, pm, and pc at each application timing are set at each application timing. That is,
p'0 = min (py0, pm0, pc0)
p'1 = min (py1, pm1, pc1)
p'2 = min (py2, pm2, pc2)
p'3 = min (py3, pm3, pc3)
p'4 = min (py4, pm4, pc4)
p'5 = min (py5, pm5, pc5)
p'6 = min (py6, pm6, pc6)
p'7 = min (py7, pm7, pc7)
p'8 = min (py8, pm8, pc8)
And. Here, the values (0 to 8) added after the py, pm, and pc correspond to each application timing. When all of the preheating pulse widths py, pm, and pc are 0, the preheating pulse width is set to 0.

On the other hand, when giving priority to raising the preheating temperature, the maximum widths of py, pm, and pc at each application timing are set at each application timing. That is,
p'0 = max (py0, pm0, pc0)
p'1 = max (py1, pm1, pc1)
p'2 = max (py2, pm2, pc2)
p'3 = max (py3, pm3, pc3)
p'4 = max (py4, pm4, pc4)
p'5 = max (py5, pm5, pc5)
p'6 = max (py6, pm6, pc6)
p'7 = max (py7, pm7, pc7)
p'8 = max (py8, pm8, pc8)
And. Further, the balance may be adjusted by the average of py, pm, and pc at each application timing and the weight average.

Further, in step S1007, head control is executed. That is, by controlling the preheating pulse width set above at the application timings p'0 to p'8, the preheating pulse is applied to the immediately preceding pixel region IW, and the preheating effect on the image tip A is exhibited.

Then, the process of step S1008 is executed, and it is determined whether to process the continuation of the page or to end the process.

If it is determined in step S1002-1 that the line (n) being processed is in the color development range (No), the process proceeds to step S1002-2 and the n-line pixels are input. .. After that, the above-mentioned steps S1003 and S1004 are executed. That is, the density values of the pixels at the application timings p0 to p8 shown in FIGS. 20 and 21 and FIG. 23 described later are calculated.

In step S1004-1, it is checked whether the value of the flag is "1". Here, if the value of the flag is “1” (Yes), the process proceeds to step S1004-2, and the value of the flag is set to “0”. Then, the n-line pixels are processed as the image start IA. Then, the process proceeds to step S1005'. On the other hand, if the value of the flag is "0" (No), the process proceeds to step S1004-3, and the n-line pixels are processed as the internal region IB.

In step S1005', the output correction for the image start end is executed. Specifically, the preheating pulse widths py, pm, and pc are calculated from the concentration values PY, PM, and PC corresponding to the preheating pulse width using a one-dimensional look-up table (1D_LUTstart) for the image start end. The calculated preheating pulse width is the preheating width at the application timings p0 to p8, which is the image start IA of FIGS. 20 and 21 and FIG. 23 described later. That is,
py = 1D_LUTstart [PY]
pm = 1D_LUTstart [PM]
pc = 1D_LUTstart [PC]
Is calculated.

As can be seen by comparing FIGS. 20 and 21 with FIG. 7, Δt ″ 1, which is the preheating pulse width of py at the application timing p0, is narrower than Δt1 in FIG. 7. The reason is the immediately preceding pixel. This is because the preheating pulse of Δt'1 is applied at the application timing p'8 of the region IW, so that the preheating is suppressed from becoming excessive.

FIG. 23 is a diagram for explaining the application timing of the preheating pulse in the immediately preceding pixel region IW, which is different from that in FIG. In FIG. 23, the preheating pulse width Δt'is the same as Δt1 in FIG. 7, and Δt'1 is narrower than that in FIGS. 20 and 21. The control for narrowing Δt'1 can be realized by 1D_LUTpre in step S1002f.

Returning to FIG. 22B and continuing the explanation, in step S1006', the same preheating pulse generation and synthesis as in step S1006 of FIG. 10 is executed. After that, the process proceeds to step S1007.

On the other hand, in step S1004-3, the internal area output correction is executed with the n-line pixels as the internal area IB. This is the same process as in step S1005. After that, the process proceeds to step S1006'.

Therefore, according to the above-described embodiment, the difference between the preheating effect on the image starting IA and the preheating effect on the internal region IB can be reduced, and the color development of the image starting IA can be improved.

Although the 3D_LUTpre used in step S1002e has been described as generating only a preheating pulse, in the case of Example 5 described later, it is changed to a 3D_LUTpre having a configuration having a heating pulse for developing a specific color of n-line pixels. .. The configuration is the configuration of 3D_LUT used in step S1004.

<Modification example 1>
The heating pulse used in the image start IA is not limited to the above examples, and other heating pulses may be used.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an example in which a heating pulse based on the heating pulse shown in FIG. 9 is used for the application timings p0 to p8 of the image start end IA.

In the high color printing job execution in step S615A of FIG. 8, by applying the flowcharts of FIGS. 22A to 22B, the application timings p'0 to p'8 of the immediately preceding pixel region IW and the image start end IA shown in FIG. 24 are applied. A heating pulse at timings p0 to p8 can be generated. In addition, heating pulses of application timings p0 to p8 of the internal region IB can also be generated. The contents of 3D_LUTpre and 1D_LUTpre for the immediately preceding pixel region IW are changed so as to have the preheating pulse width shown in FIG. 24.

The contents of the 3D_LUT for the image start IA and the internal region IB are the same as the heating pulse shown in FIG. Further, the content of 1D_LUTpre for the image start IA is changed so as to have the preheating pulse width shown in FIG. 24. The 1D_LUT for the internal region IB is similar to the heating pulse shown in FIG. Looking at the widths of Δt'1 and Δt "1 shown in FIG. 24, Δt" 1 is controlled to be narrowed, but even if Δt'1 is controlled to be narrowed as shown in FIG. 23. good.

Therefore, with the above configuration, even in a high-color printing job, the difference between the preheating effect on the image start IA and the preheating effect on the internal region IB can be reduced, and the color development of the image start IA can be improved.

Further, even with the heating pulse having the configuration shown in FIGS. 11 to 13, the color development of the image start IA can be improved by applying it to FIG. 24 with respect to FIG. 9 described above.

<Modification 2>
Further, the heating pulse used in the image start IA is not limited to the above examples, and other heating pulses may be used.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing an example in which a heating pulse based on the heating pulse shown in FIG. 15 is used for application timings p0 to p8 of the image start end IA.

In the high-speed print job execution of step S615 of FIG. 14, by applying the flowcharts of FIGS. 22A to 22B, the application timings p'0 to p'6 of the immediately preceding pixel region IW and the image start end IA shown in FIG. 25 are applied. The heating pulses of timings p0 to p6 can be generated. Further, the heating pulses of application timings p0 to p6 of the internal region IB can also be generated. The contents of 3D_LUTpre and 1D_LUTpre for the immediately preceding pixel region IW are preheated in FIG. 25. It is used by changing it so that it has a pulse width.

The contents of the 3D_LUT for the image start IA and the internal region IB are the same as the heating pulse shown in FIG. Further, the content of 1D_LUTpre for the image start IA is changed so as to have the preheating pulse width shown in FIG. 25. The 1D_LUT for the internal region IB is similar to the heating pulse shown in FIG. Looking at the widths of Δt'1 and Δt "1 shown in FIG. 25, Δt" 1 is controlled to be narrowed, but even if Δt'1 is controlled to be narrowed as shown in FIG. 23. good.

Therefore, with the above configuration, even in a high-speed print job, the difference between the preheating effect on the image start IA and the preheating effect on the internal region IB can be reduced, and the color development of the image start IA can be improved.

Further, even with the heating pulses having the configurations shown in FIGS. 16 to 18, the color development of the image start IA can be improved by applying the heating pulse to FIG. 15 described above to FIG. 25.

In the third embodiment, the color development of the image start end IA in the transport direction of the recording medium (infrared image member) 10 shown in FIG. 19 is generated by generating a preheating pulse of the immediately preceding pixel region IW with reference to the pixel value of the image start end IA. An example realized by In this embodiment, an example in which the pixel value of the immediately preceding pixel region IW is corrected according to the pixel value of the image start edge IA to generate a preheating pulse will be described.

FIG. 26 is a diagram illustrating a correction table storing the pixel value of the immediately preceding pixel region IW after correction according to the pixel value of the image start end IA when the immediately preceding pixel region IW is a white pixel.

This correction table stores the pixel values of R, G, and B after correction of the immediately preceding pixel area IW for each combination of 256 gradations of R, G, and B of the image start end IA. When the immediately preceding pixel region IW is a white pixel, the corrected pixel value of the immediately preceding pixel region IW can be calculated from the pixel value of the image start end IA and the correction table shown in FIG. For example, for Y, M, C, R, G, B, K,
Pixel value of the tip A of the color image Corrected value of the immediately preceding pixel area IW R G B R G B
Y 255 255 0 255 255 240
M 255 0 255 255 196 255
C 0 255 255 128 255 255
R 255 0 0 255 240 240
G 0 255 0 128 255 128
B 0 0 255 196 196 255
K 0 0 0 240 240 240
Can be calculated. Using the corrected value for the immediately preceding pixel region IW, a heating pulse is generated in the same manner as in the image start end IA and the internal region IB. It is desirable that the immediately preceding pixel region IW is not a visually recognized color in the heating pulse based on the corrected value of the immediately preceding pixel region IW, and is a color that exerts a preheating effect for the color of the next image start IA. Specifically, it is preferable that the hue is the same as the pixel value of the image start end IA, and the pixel value is barely visible at the tip of the image. As shown in FIG. 26, a pixel value having a brightness higher than that of the image start edge IA is defined as a pixel value after correction of the immediately preceding pixel region IW.

FIG. 27 is a flowchart showing image processing for driving the recording head by generating a heating pulse according to the fourth embodiment. This figure is a flowchart showing the details of the print job execution in step S616 of each of FIGS. 6, 8 and 14. In FIG. 27, the same process steps already described in FIGS. 10 and 22A to 22B are designated by the same step reference numbers, and the description thereof will be omitted. Here, only the processing steps specific to this embodiment will be described.

According to FIG. 27, after executing steps S1001 to S1002, if it is determined in step S1002-1 that the line (n line) currently being processed is the non-color-developing range and the next (n + 1) line is the color-developing range. The process proceeds to step S1002a. Then, steps S1002a to S1002c are executed. Then, in step S1002c, if it is determined that the n-line pixel is the specific color data, that is, “white” in this example, that is, R = 255, G = 255, and B = 255 (Yes), the process is stepped. Proceed to S1002h. On the other hand, if the pixel is not a specific color (No), the process proceeds to step S1004.

In step S1002h, the n-line pixel is processed as the immediately preceding pixel area IW. Specifically, using the correction table described with reference to FIG. 26, the pixel values of the n lines corresponding to the immediately preceding pixel region IW are corrected using the n + 1 line pixel values corresponding to the image start end IA. After that, the process proceeds to step S1004.

After executing the luminance density conversion in step S1004, the process executes the output correction in step S1005, and further executes the preheating pulse generation & synthesis in step 1006.

After that, the process executes the processes of steps S1007 to S1008.

Comparing the above-described examples with those of FIGS. 22A to 22B, in this example, the processings of luminance density conversion, output correction, preheating pulse generation, and synthesis corresponding to steps S1004 to S1006 are common regardless of the judgment results before that. can. Therefore, there is an advantage that the tables referred to in steps S1004 to S1006 can be shared regardless of the determination result.

In Examples 3 to 4, if the immediately preceding pixel region IW is white data, an example of applying a preheating pulse to the image start IA so as to exert a preheating effect has been described. In this embodiment, an example will be described in which a preheating pulse is applied to the immediately preceding pixel region IW according to a combination of a specific color of the immediately preceding pixel region IW and the image start end IA, including white data in the immediately preceding pixel region IW.

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing a preheating instruction according to a specific color combination of the immediately preceding pixel area IW and the image start end IA and the number of the table group to be used. The flowcharts shown in FIGS. 22A to 22B already described can be used for the execution of this embodiment.

In step S1002c in FIG. 22A, the table shown in FIG. 28 is referred to. For example, when the pixels of the n-line are R = 255, G = 255, B = 0, and the pixels of the (n + 1) line are R = 0, G = 255, B = 255, the preheating instruction is "Yes". Therefore, it is determined that the color is a specific color (Yes), and the process proceeds to step S1002d. Further, in step S1002e, as described in Example 1, 3D_LUT, which also has a heating pulse for developing a specific color, is used as 3D_LUTpre. The 3D_LUT also includes a preheating pulse for the image start IA.

By predetermining a number for identifying the table group together with the 1D_LUTpre used in step S1002f for each specific color combination and managing it as in the table shown in FIG. 28, an appropriate table group can be referred to by referring to the table. Can be set. The n-line pixels are R = 255, G = 255, B = 0 (ie, Y color), and the (n + 1) line pixels are R = 0, G = 255, B = 255 (ie, C color). If there is, the table group number is 12, and the table corresponding to this number is set for each process.

FIG. 29 is a diagram illustrating a heating pulse for a specific color combination of n-line pixels and (n + 1) line pixels. In FIG. 29, the color described at the left end indicates the print color of the n-line pixel, and the color described at the right end thereof indicates the print color of the (n + 1) line pixel.

After applying heating pulses at application timings p'0 and p'1 to R = 255, G = 255, and B = 0 (Y color) of the n-line pixels shown in FIG. 29, the R of the (n + 1) line pixels Consider up to the heating pulse of the application timing p5 for = 0, G = 255, and B = 255 (color C). In this case, since the elapsed time is long, the preheating of the image forming layer 18 of C is insufficient. Therefore, in the table of the table group number 12 shown in FIG. 28, values that can generate a preheating pulse for the (n + 1) line pixel are set at the application timings p'6, p'7, and p'8 of the n-line pixel. I will do it. Further, even when the print color of the n-line pixel is R and the print color is (n + 1) line pixel C, the application timing p'4 to p5 takes a long time, so a preheating pulse for the (n + 1) line is set at the application timing p'8. do.

On the other hand, if the preheating effect for the color development of the (n + 1) line pixel is sufficient due to the color development of the n-line pixel, it is not necessary to set the preheating pulse for the (n + 1) line pixel to the n-line pixel. .. For example, as shown in FIG. 29, when the n-line pixel is K and the (n + 1) line pixel is C, the preheating is sufficient for the (n + 1) line pixel by heating to develop the color of the n-line pixel. Therefore, it is not necessary to set the preheating pulse.

When the n-line pixels are R = 0, G = 0, B = 0 and the (n + 1) line pixels are R = 0, G = 255, B = 255, according to the table of FIG. 28, the preheating instruction is ". I don't. " Therefore, in step S1002c of FIG. 22A, it is determined (No) that the color is not a specific color, and the process proceeds to step S1004.

By the way, in FIG. 22B, although the table is used in steps S1005', S1006', and S1004-3, the process is executed using the table corresponding to the table group number corresponding to the set of the n-line pixel and the (n + 1) line pixel. ..

In the above description, an example of applying the processing of the flowchart shown in FIGS. 22A to 22B has been described, but the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG. 27 can be applied to execute the processing of this embodiment. ..

That is, in step S1002c in FIG. 27, the table shown in FIG. 28 is referred to. For example, when the n-line pixels are R = 255, G = 255, B = 0, and the (n + 1) line pixels are R = 0, G = 255, B = 255, the preheating instruction is "to". , It is determined that the color is specific (Yes), and the process proceeds to step S1002h. Further, when the n-line pixels are R = 0, G = 0, B = 0 and the (n + 1) line pixels are R = 0, G = 255, B = 255, the preheating instruction is “not”. , It is determined that the color is not a specific color (No), and the process proceeds to step S1004.

When applying the flowchart shown in FIG. 27, the table group number may be set so that the table used in step S1002h can be set according to the combination of specific colors.

In Examples 3 to 5, an example of setting the preheating pulse of the immediately preceding pixel region IW to be set and applied has been described. In this embodiment, an example in which the width or application timing of the preheating pulse of the immediately preceding pixel region IW is changed according to the thermal history will be described. The reason for changing the preheating pulse width and application timing according to the thermal history is to reduce the excess or deficiency of the preheating effect. The thermal history is the history of the ambient temperature of the infrared image member 10 detected by the thermista, or the estimated temperature of each layer of the immediately preceding pixel region IW of the infrared image member 10 based on the pattern of the heating pulse applied before the immediately preceding pixel region IW. Is.

From the previously known activation temperatures of the image forming layer 14, the image forming layer 16 and the image forming layer 18 of the infrared image member 10, and the colors developed by printing various images by experiments, each of the developed colors The temperature of the cambium can be estimated. Further, the temperature of the thermistor (not shown) provided in the recording device 40 at the time of color development at the time of each printing is recorded, and the correspondence relationship between the temperature of the thermistor and the estimated temperature of each image forming layer is tabulated. Alternatively, the correspondence between the heating pulse pattern for the color developed in the experiment and the temperature of each image forming layer estimated above may be tabulated.

When executing the print job in step S616, when executing the high-color printing job in step S615A, and when executing the high-speed print job in step S615 ”, referring to the table described above, the temperature of the thermistor or the pattern of the heating pulse immediately before the pixel region IW The temperature can be estimated.

In this embodiment, the preheating pulse widths and application timings of the application timings p'0 to p'8 in FIGS. 20, 21, and 23 are changed according to the estimated temperature. Specifically, a plurality of 3D_LUTpres capable of calculating both the preheating pulse width and the application timing described in the third embodiment are prepared in advance according to the temperature, and the 3D_LUTpre corresponding to the estimated temperature is selected. In this way, the preheating pulse width and the application timing of the application timings p'0 to p'8 can be changed.

In this change, the higher the temperature, the narrower the preheating pulse width or the smaller the number of application timings.

FIG. 30 is a diagram showing an example of a preheating pulse and a subsequent heating pulse when the heat history is high temperature. On the other hand, FIG. 20 shows the preheating pulse width of n-line pixels when the thermal history is at room temperature.

As can be seen by comparing FIG. 30 and FIG. 20, when the colors are Y, R, and K, the preheating pulse width Δt'1 at the application timing p'8 is narrower in the case of FIG. 30 than in the case of FIG. 20. Further, when the colors are M and B, the preheating pulse is not applied at the application timing p'7 in FIG. 30. When the colors are C and G, the preheating pulse is not applied at the application timing p'6 in FIG. 30. Here, although the two patterns of FIGS. 20 and 30 have been described, three or more patterns having different preheating pulse widths or the number of times of application timing may be used properly according to the heat history. Further, the immediately preceding pixel region IW does not reach the visible color development, and the preheating pulse width and the application timing that exert the preheating effect on the image start IA may be set to 3D_LUTpre in advance according to the temperature.

Therefore, according to the above-described embodiment, the difference between the preheating effect on the image starting IA and the preheating effect on the internal region IB can be reduced according to the heat history, and the color development of the image starting IA can be improved.

<Other Examples>
Similar to the internal region IB, Examples 3 to 6 have been described with an example in which the heating pulse of the image start IA includes a preheating pulse. However, the present invention is not limited to this configuration. For example, the preheating for the image start IA may be executed only by the preheating pulse of the immediately preceding pixel region IW.

FIG. 31 is a diagram showing an example in which preheating for the image start edge IA is executed only by the preheating pulse of the immediately preceding pixel region IW.

Hereinafter, the characteristics of the preheating pulse shown in FIG. 31 will be described in comparison with FIG. 20.

In the case of Y, by applying the preheating pulse of the pixel region IW immediately before FIG. 20 and the pulse of the image start IA earlier by Δt0, the image start IA becomes only the image formation pulse as shown in FIG.

In the case of M, the preheating pulse in the pixel region IW immediately before FIG. 20 is applied earlier by Δt0, and the pulse of the image start IA is applied earlier by Δt0 × 2, so that the image start IA is an image formation pulse as shown in FIG. Only. Here, the reason why the number of preheating pulses is reduced from four to three is that unlike FIG. 20, since the preheating pulses can be applied at continuous application timings, the preheating effect is high, and the number of preheating pulses remains four. This is because M develops color in the immediately preceding pixel region IW.

In the case of C, the preheating pulse in the immediately preceding pixel region IW of FIG. 20 is applied earlier by Δt0 × 2, and the pulse of the image start IA is applied earlier by Δt0 × 8, so that the image start IA is an image as shown in FIG. Only the formation pulse. Here, the reason why the number of preheating pulses is reduced from 6 to 5 is that unlike FIG. 20, since the preheating pulses can be applied at the continuous application timing, the preheating effect is high and the number of preheating pulses remains 6. This is because C develops color in the immediately preceding pixel region IW.

In the case of R, by applying the preheating pulse of the pixel region IW immediately before FIG. 20 and the pulse of the image start IA earlier by Δt0, the image start IA becomes only the image formation pulse as shown in FIG.

In the case of G, by applying the preheating pulse and the image start IA pulse in the immediately preceding pixel region IW of FIG. 20 earlier by Δt0, the image start IA becomes only the image formation pulse as shown in FIG. 31.

In the case of B, the preheating pulse in the pixel region IW immediately before FIG. 20 is applied earlier by Δt0, and the pulse of the image start IA is applied earlier by Δt0 × 2, so that the image start IA is an image formation pulse as shown in FIG. Only. Here, the reason why the number of preheating pulses is reduced from four to three is that unlike FIG. 20, since the preheating pulses can be applied at continuous application timings, the preheating effect is high, and the number of preheating pulses remains four. This is because M develops color in the immediately preceding pixel region IW.

In the case of K, by applying the preheating pulse and the image start IA pulse in the immediately preceding pixel region IW of FIG. 20 earlier by Δt0, the image start IA becomes only the image formation pulse as shown in FIG. 31.

As described above, the color development of the image start IA can also be improved by applying the pulse at the timing shown in FIG. 31.

As explained so far, the color development efficiency can be improved by setting the preheating heating pulse according to the combination of the three stimulus values such as RGB and CMY. Then, the improvement of the color development efficiency can be used for realizing high color development or for high-speed recording.

In addition, in order to make the determination of the necessity / unnecessity of the preheating heating pulse by the combination of the three stimulation values as a simple process, it is determined whether or not Y = 0 (whether or not B = 255), and the determination is made. When the result is Yes, a preheating heating pulse may be used.

This is because the infrared image member 10 has a Y color developing layer closest to the surface of the member and has the highest coloring temperature, so that it has a preheating effect on the coloring of other colors. Naturally, in the infrared image member 10, if another color, for example, an M color developing layer is provided closest to the surface of the member and the coloring temperature is the highest, whether or not M = 0 (at G = 255). Needless to say, it is appropriate to make a judgment (whether or not there is).

Further, in the embodiment described above, the recording device and the host device have been described as separate forms, but the host device as a supply source for supplying image data may be an image pickup device such as a digital camera. In this case, a device in which a recording device and a digital camera are integrated, a so-called recording device having a photographing function, is also included in the present invention.

The invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, a claim is attached to make the scope of the invention public.

This application claims priority on the basis of Japanese Patent Application Application No. 2020-013877 filed on January 30, 2020 and Japanese Patent Application Application No. 2020-214165 submitted on December 23, 2020. All of the contents are incorporated here.

Claims

A sheet-shaped recording medium in which a plurality of color-developing layers corresponding to a plurality of colors and developed in response to heating are layered is heated to develop a desired color-developing layer among the plurality of color-developing layers on the recording medium. A recording device that forms an image
A recording head equipped with multiple heat generating elements and
The recording is performed using a first pulse for preheating a predetermined color-developing layer and a second pulse applied after the first pulse to develop a color of the predetermined color-developing layer. A driving means for driving each of the plurality of heat generating elements of the head, and
When developing a specific color, at least one of increasing the pulse width of the first pulse and increasing the number of times the second pulse is applied is reproduced in the specific color. A recording device comprising a pulse control means for controlling other color-developing layers that are not used for the purpose so as not to develop color.
It also has an input means for inputting image data from the host device.
The recording medium is a first color-developing layer that develops yellow (Y), a second color-developing layer that develops magenta (M), and cyan in order from the side of the recording head in which the plurality of heat generating elements are in contact. A third color-developing layer that develops the color of (C) is formed.
The driving means drives the recording head based on the image data input by the input means to develop colors in the order of the first color-developing layer, the second color-developing layer, and the third color-developing layer. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an image is formed on the recording medium.
The specific color is a color formed by the color development of only the second color development layer, the color development of only the third color development layer, and the color development of the second color development layer and the third color development layer. The recording device according to claim 2, wherein the recording device is provided.
The input means inputs an instruction as to whether or not the color is further enhanced.
The recording device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein when there is an instruction for high color development, control is performed by the pulse control means.
The pulse control means
When the second color-developing layer or the third color-developing layer is independently colored, the pulse width of the first pulse used for preheating the color-developing layer is lengthened.
When the second color-developing layer and the third color-developing layer are to be colored, it is characterized in that the pulse width of the first pulse used for preheating the second color-developing layer is controlled to be long. The recording device according to claim 3 or 4.
The pulse control means preheats another color-developing layer at the same timing as preheating the color-developing layer at an earlier timing and with the same pulse width regardless of the color-developing layer. The recording device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the pulse width of the first pulse is controlled to be long.
The pulse control means controls so that the application timing of the first pulse for preheating the color-developing layer to be colored is matched with the application timing of at least the second pulse used for color development of a color-developing layer different from the color-developing layer. The recording device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the recording device is characterized by the above.
The pulse control means applies the first pulse so as to preheat another color-developing layer at the same timing as preheating the color-developing layer at an earlier timing regardless of the color-developing layer. The application timing of the first pulse for preheating the color-developing layer to be colored is controlled to match at least the application timing of the second pulse used for color development of a color-developing layer different from the color-developing layer. The recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4.
The input means inputs an instruction as to whether or not to record at a higher speed,
The recording device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein when instructed to perform high-speed recording, control is performed by the pulse control means.
The pulse control means
When the second color-developing layer or the third color-developing layer is independently colored, the pulse width of the first pulse used for preheating the color-developing layer is lengthened to develop the color. Immediately before applying the second pulse for color development of the layer, the first pulse having a longer pulse width is applied once.
When the second color-developing layer and the third color-developing layer are to be colored, the pulse width of the first pulse used for preheating the second color-developing layer is lengthened, and the second color-developing layer is developed. 2. The recording device according to any one item.
The pulse control means preheats another color-developing layer at the same timing as preheating the color-developing layer at an earlier timing and with the same pulse width regardless of the color-developing layer. The recording device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 or 9, wherein the pulse width of the first pulse is increased and the first pulse having the increased pulse width is controlled to be applied once.
The pulse control means is characterized in that the application timing of the first pulse for preheating the color-developing layer to be colored is controlled to match at least the second pulse used for color development of a color-developing layer different from the color-developing layer. The recording device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 or 9.
The pulse control means applies the first pulse so as to preheat another color-developing layer at the same timing as preheating the color-developing layer at an earlier timing regardless of the color-developing layer. The application timing of the first pulse for preheating the color-developing layer to be colored is controlled to match at least the application timing of the second pulse used for color development of a color-developing layer different from the color-developing layer. The recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, or 9.
The recording device according to any one of claims 2 to 13, wherein the host device that outputs image data is included in the recording device.
The recording device according to any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein the pulse control means applies the first pulse and the second pulse to the same pixel.
A recording head provided with a plurality of heat generating elements heats a sheet-shaped recording medium in which a plurality of color-developing layers that correspond to a plurality of colors and develop colors in response to heating are layered, and is desired among the plurality of color-developing layers. It is a recording control method of a recording apparatus that develops a color in the color-developing layer of the above and forms an image on the recording medium.
The recording is performed using a first pulse for preheating a predetermined color-developing layer and a second pulse applied after the first pulse to develop a color of the predetermined color-developing layer. When driving each of the plurality of heat generating elements of the head to develop a specific color, the pulse width of the first pulse is increased and the number of times the second pulse is applied is increased. A recording control method comprising a control step of controlling at least one of them so as not to cause color development of another color-developing layer that is not used for reproducing the specific color.
A sheet-shaped recording medium in which a plurality of color-developing layers corresponding to a plurality of colors and developed in response to heating are layered is heated to develop a desired color-developing layer among the plurality of color-developing layers on the recording medium. A recording device that forms an image
A recording head equipped with multiple heat generating elements and
The recording is performed using a first pulse for preheating a predetermined color-developing layer and a second pulse applied after the first pulse to develop a color of the predetermined color-developing layer. A driving means for driving each of the plurality of heat generating elements of the head, and
A transport means for transporting the recording medium to the recording head in the first direction, and
In the first pixel located in the image non-forming region of the recording medium, the driving means uses the first pulse and is located in the image forming region of the recording medium and is recorded after the first pixel. In the second pixel, the control means for controlling the driving means to use the second pulse, and
The control means is a case where the color-developing layer for coloring at the position of the second pixel is a first color-developing layer and a second color-developing layer different from the first color-developing layer based on image data. In some cases, the duty ratio of the first pulse used at the position of the first pixel is changed, or the application time of the first pulse is changed, or at least one of them is performed. Recording device.
The first pixel and the second pixel are continuous pixels in the first direction.
The recording device according to claim 17, wherein the second pixel is a pixel at a position where an image can be formed first in the image forming region in the first direction.
The recording according to claim 17 or 18, wherein none of the color-developing layers of the plurality of color-developing layers develops color at the position of the first pixel by driving the drive means using the first pulse. Device.
The recording device according to any one of claims 17 to 19, wherein the first pixel is a white pixel.
When there are a plurality of the desired color-developing layers, the control means reduces the duty ratio of the first pulse or applies the first pulse to preheat the color-developing layer at a deep position. The recording device according to any one of claims 17 to 20, wherein the time is shortened.
The control means changes the value of the first pixel to a value that does not cause color development in the plurality of color-developing layers, instead of white, based on the image data used for image formation in the second pixel. The recording apparatus according to any one of claims 17 to 19.
The claim is characterized in that the control means controls to perform preheating by the first pulse when the value of the second pixel and the value of the first pixel are in a specific combination. 22. The recording device.
Further having an acquisition means for acquiring the thermal history of the first pixel,
17 to 23 of claims 17 to 23, wherein the duty ratio of the first pulse is reduced or the application time of the first pulse is shortened based on the thermal history acquired by the acquisition means. The recording device according to any one item.
A recording head provided with a plurality of heat generating elements heats a sheet-shaped recording medium in which a plurality of color-developing layers that correspond to a plurality of colors and develop colors in response to heating are layered, and is desired among the plurality of color-developing layers. It is a recording control method of a recording apparatus that develops a color in the color-developing layer of the above and forms an image on the recording medium.
The recording is performed using a first pulse for preheating a predetermined color-developing layer and a second pulse applied after the first pulse to develop a color of the predetermined color-developing layer. When driving each of the plurality of heat generating elements of the head,
A second pixel located in the image forming region of the recording medium and recorded after the first pixel uses the first pulse in the first pixel located in the image non-forming region of the recording medium. In, control is performed so as to use the second pulse.
When the color-developing layer that develops color at the position of the second pixel based on the input image data is the first color-developing layer and when it is a second color-developing layer different from the first color-developing layer. It is characterized in that at least either the duty ratio of the first pulse used at the position of the first pixel is changed or the application time of the first pulse is changed. Recording control method.